Powerplay
is a set of features announced for Elite: Dangerous. It was formally announced to launch as the third major free content updates for the game.Elite: Dangerous Newsletter #72 was released on June 5, 2015.Powerplay launch announcement In Powerplay, you can participate in an ongoing battle for interstellar conquest and control. As an ally of your chosen Power, you will be able to guide their strategy, take on special objectives to advance your shared cause. Your choices and actions will have a direct and visible impact on the balance of galactic power. Powerplay Players' Guide Overview Powerplay represents the machinations of powerful individuals and organizations as they strive to control inhabited space for their own agendas. At its heart, Powerplay is a battle for territory. Each Power attempts to expand into systems, extracting resources from them in order to pay for continued expansion and protect systems already being exploited. As a commander of a star ship you can pledge your support to a power, carrying out tasks for them in return for rewards and prestige.Powerplay Beta Help Document Powers and Factions Powers are distinct entities compared to minor and major factions. * Minor factions generally control individual areas of space within a system. Normally one minor faction will be dominant, controlling the lion’s share of space. * Major factions are huge super powers that control vast swathes of inhabited space. Many, but not all, minor factions align themselves with major factions, adopting their laws and customs. * Powers sit between major and minor factions. Technically they can control up to dozens, if not hundreds of systems, though they may also control a mere handful. While many powers are aligned directly with major factions, being Imperial senators or Federal politicians, others are not, being independent entities. Importantly, even when a Power is aligned with a major faction this does not prevent it scheming against its “allies”. Ultimately, every Power stands alone. Command Capital Each Power uses a resource called Command Capital (CC) to pay for its endeavours. CC represents a combination of financial, political and social weight that can be channelled into use by the power. CC is received from systems under the control of a power. The bigger the population of a system, the greater the amount of CC can be exploited from it. CC is the lifeblood of a power. Without it, the Power cannot expand or protect its territory. Cycles Powerplay runs in cycles, each one lasting a continuous week in real-time. A cycle represents the amount of time it takes for powers to take significant actions. At the end of each cycle all actions started within it are resolved and the power’s CC reserve for the next cycle is computed. Control Systems and Exploitation Powers do not take direct control of all systems they wish to expand into. They instead focus on single systems, dominating them, turning them into control systems. Every cycle a Power must pay CC upkeep to maintain control systems. The amount of upkeep is directly related to the distance a control system is from the power’s home system. The further away a control system is the greater the upkeep required to maintain it. A control system automatically collects CC income from all nearby systems within a 15 light year radius. These systems become exploited systems. Importantly, control and exploited systems cannot be expanded into by other powers. Turmoil And Revolt If a Power begins a cycle with a deficit of CC, it is in trouble as it effectively does not have the strength to maintain control over all of the systems it controls. The control system with the highest CC upkeep falls into turmoil and its upkeep cost is removed from the power’s CC reserve. Additional control systems fall into turmoil until the Power has a positive CC reserve. When the next cycle begins, control systems already in turmoil will no longer exploit nearby systems for CC income, though their upkeep cost will still be due at the end of the cycle. Any control systems that started the cycle in turmoil, will revolt at the end of the cycle if the Power is still running a CC deficit. Systems that revolt are no longer controlled by the power. Note that revolting systems will not address the CC deficit, other systems might still fall into turmoil. Control Effect When a Power controls or exploits a system, it doesn’t simply harvest CC from them. It also applies one or more control effects to the systems. Control effects are varied and dependent on the power, but could include shutting down all black markets, increasing penalties for criminals or legalising/criminalising specific commodities. Process of Powerplay There are three elements to Powerplay, called Ethos. These are preparation, expansion and control. In the first instance, a target system must be prepared for expansion. This preparation may involve different tasks for supporters to complete, depending on the Power involved. Once a system has been successfully prepared, an expansion attempt may be purchased for the next cycle. Again, different powers require their supporters to carry out different tasks to successfully prosecute expansion. Supporters of other powers may directly oppose expansion making success even more difficult to achieve. Once a system has been expanded into, supporters may fortify it to reduce its drain on the power’s CC reserves. Supporters of other powers may undermine control systems making them more expensive to maintain and more likely to revolt. Preparation If you have pledged support to a power, you can prepare systems for expansion. The details of the preparation tasks required of you are described in the details of the preparation tab in the Powerplay interface. Any system may be prepared for expansion with the following caveats: * The system must be inhabited * The system must not be a control system for a power * The system must not be an exploited system for a different power In addition, each target system has an expansion cost. This expansion cost will be deducted from the power’s CC reserve at the end of the cycle if the system is chosen for an expansion attempt. A system cannot be prepared if its expansion cost is greater than the power’s current CC reserve. Top Ten Systems Although any amount of systems may be prepared, a Power is limited each cycle to purchasing no more than 10 expansion attempts. Importantly, its choices are based on the amount of preparation carried out at a system, not the system’s expansion cost. The Top 10 Systems listing shows several things: * The total PREP so far this cycle for that top 10 system. * The range from your ship to that system in lightyears (LY) * The COST column shows in White color those systems that your Power will purchase expansion attempts in order from 1 to 10 until your Powers Command Capital (CC) for the cycle has run out. The first system highlighted in Red color shows the point on the listing at which the CC to spend that cycle will run out and no further systems in the listing can be afforded for expansion, those also highlighted in Red.Powerplay Training Part 2: Preparation All systems have a preparation threshold. Until supporters have completed enough preparation tasks to breach this threshold the system cannot be a top ten entry. Vote Nominations Once supporters become influential within a Power they may vote for a preparation top ten entry from the preparation tab to directly increase preparation for it, increasing the likelihood of an expansion attempt being purchased for it. Multiple Preparation More than one Power can prepare a system at the same time. In such cases, at the end of the cycle the Power which completed the most preparation gets to purchase an expansion attempt whilst all other preparation fails. Preparation can occur for multiple powers in systems that would be within each other’s potential 15 light year exploitation radius. In such cases, at the end of the cycle the Power which completed the most preparation gets to purchase an expansion attempt whilst all other preparation fails. Preparation and the Galaxy Map You can use the galaxy map to help you view potential candidates for preparation, by selecting the “Powerplay” view, choosing your Power from the drop down selection then activating the “Expansion” filter. The Expansion view shows all systems outside your control with the following identification markers: * Colour is used to denote value of a system if it was controlled: ** Green are the most profitable, red are the least profitable, orange are average ** Grey systems would actually cost CC upkeep to maintain, even after all the income had been harvested from exploited systems * Hollow systems cannot be prepared, for one of the following reasons: ** The upkeep cost is greater than the powers entire CC reserve that cycle ** Another power is controlling the system ** Another power is exploiting the system ** Another power is attempting an expansion that would cause the system to be exploited if it is successful * Systems that are uninhabited are not displayed at all Top ten preparation entries are displayed in the powerplay galaxy map when the “expansion” filter is active. Each such system has a number entry above it, denoting its top ten preparation status. Rolling over or selecting a system summons an information panel giving more details as well as highlighting all systems that would be exploited if this were a control system. References Category:Powerplay